Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq

17 reviews

cluckieduck's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

 Oof. This is a beautiful book, but I can't say I enjoyed it. In fact, I don't think it's written for you to enjoy; it's a harsh, brutal reality of a life in an isolated community that many people are sheltered from knowing, and whether that's good or bad, I'm not one to say.

Tanya Tagaq has such a way with her prose. The juxtaposition of lyrical, poetic flow and crass, vulgar descriptions is really engaging. This was a quick book to read, but the subject matter is far from easy. It is rife with triggering content masked beneath mythical stories that make you question if what you really read just happened, but not wanting to go back and double-check. Some things are better left uncovered.

Empathy is for those who can afford it. Empathy is for the privileged. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

abookishlesbian's review against another edition

5.0

Speechless. This was not an easy read, it forces you to confront the brutality of life in such a beautiful yet disorienting way. Tagaq does not spare the pain or the horror, but cradles you in moments of love, beauty, and laughter. The way she was able to express hard hitting topics such as child abuse, sexual abuse, addiction, etc through a combination of memoir, magical realism, and poetry, i experienced more emotional whiplash from this work of art than anything I've read in a very long time. This was truly a book I will never forget, and one I'd highly recommend but please proceed with caution. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, and Vomit

thecandlelightlibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

2.0

This is probably one I should not have picked up, but here we are. While the poetry itself was often stunning (and, if you are going to pick this up, I definitely recommend the audiobook version read by the author), there was just so much else I didn't enjoy. Other reviewers have mentioned that they'd be interested in reading more poetry by this author but not another novel, and that's kind of how I feel after finishing this blend of both.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

shelise3's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

kodi_rae's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Part autobiography, part narrative fiction, part magical realism, etc. with some tough themes about SA, trauma, etc. One of the things that makes “Split Tooth” beautiful is the way Tagaq talks about the environment, animal spirits, the northern lights, etc. and how it ties into the narrative and cultural beliefs and practices. I read in other reviews that if you listen to the audiobook she narrates it herself and incorporates throat singing between each section which I imagine would lend itself to a whole new, raw experience. I think it would be worth revisiting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Drug use, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Minor: Death, Domestic abuse, Self harm, and Terminal illness

wirt's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, and Alcohol

vtlism's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Chilling, beautiful, imaginative, quotable 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Colonisation

mapscitiesandsongs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I don't really know how to rate this, since I have the feeling that I didn't even understand half of the book. The prose was certainly interesting and beautiful. I am a bit sad that I couldn't get the audiobook. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, and Colonisation

Minor: Blood and Grief

kay_raichu's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

It's an amazing novel that manages to incorporate prose organically. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Death, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, and Alcohol

foreverinastory's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Damn this was a lot heavier than I thought it would be.

Rep: Inuit female MC, queer side characters.

CWs: Adult/minor relationship (unwilling minor), blood, child abuse, colonisation, misogyny, pedophilia, physical abuse, pregnancy, racism, racial slurs, rape, sexual assault, sexual content, sexual violence, violence. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, and Colonisation